Hot and humid in Houston this week. Maybe less hot? Maybe wetter? No one knows, but it will probably be hot. And humid. Certainly was at the BOL. Even though it was cooler at night, the daystar warmed everything right up.
I did some small things, but mostly cleaned and put stuff away yesterday. I did apply fireant killer to the mounds. I like to do that last, even though this time the dog wasn’t there. The drive home was uneventful, which I like. I have to find some new audiobooks though, or get XM again. Commercial radio is so weak.
Today I’m playing chauffeur, and school hasn’t even started yet. Pickup from sports tryout, take to Dr visit, return, repeat… On the bright side it does give me some time to talk to the kid.
Later in the day I’ve got some of my own stuff to do. Putting away stuff, cleaning my office, getting stuff together for my regional show in three weeks, and doing all the normal domestic bliss should keep me busy.
There’s always something to do… I never have to go looking.
And there’s always something more to stack. Get busy!
nick
Well, that was interesting. On the ferry from Wales to Ireland yesterday. The ship was abeam of possibly the most dangerous rocks on the Irish coast, Tuskar Rock, when it lost an engine and went into an uncontrolled turn before coming to a dead stop. Fortunately, the uncontrolled turn was away from, rather than towards, the Rock. Power was restored after about 30 minutes, and the vessel made it into port unaided.
Hard to prep for such an event. Always know where your towel is!
I’ve referenced concepts and lines from “Hitchhiker’s Guide” a lot lately.
“We’ll see who rusts first,” has been a favorite since the announcement of the jabs.
The one that pops into my head since the assassination attempt:
“Trump
Zaphodis just this guy, you know.”Adams wrote something profound.
There are always some “easy” preps to take. On any boat, know where the life jackets are stowed. On any SMALL boat, wear a life jacket if possible.
For audiobooks, look at Librivox.org. Thousands of public-domain audiobooks, read by amateurs. They don’t read the book as a single item, but break it into chapters or even parts of chapters, but once you get used to that they can be very good. And the books include a lot of the good stuff from the early twentieth century and before, like H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, lots of mysteries, and even actual Literature!
I did a pre-emptive sale of some stocks in my play account this morning before market opening. Good thing I did – can’t login to Schwab ( or Vanguard ) at all right now.
I really despise printer manufacturers. All of them. HP, Brother, Canon, Epson.
My Brother color laser says the cartridges are low. Turns out the printer does not measure the toner level, but calculates based on usage. There is a way to reset the usage information and I have done that. Now all the cartridges are showing as full. I will run them until they no longer produce output.
I need new cartridges anyway. The cost of over $250.00 for three color cartridges (high yield) is more than I spent for the printer. I did get a good deal on Black Friday. I paid $139.00 for the HL-3170CDW printer, duplexing, networked, etc., a $400.00 printer. Staples had a misprint in a coupon and even though they did not have to honor it, they did.
I refuse to run third party cartridges in the laser printer. Too many bad things can happen with gummed up ink, damage to the imaging rollers, etc. In the Brother laser the ink cartridges are separate from the imaging rollers.
HP is the worst with their ink fiascos. Printers would refuse to print when 25% of the ink was still available. Especially egregious was not allowing third party cartridges.
Canon is reasonable for the most part, except the printer refuses to print black unless the color cartridges have ink.
Epson is OK, I like their ink tank system. However, there is a pad that absorbs excess ink that will fill and is technically not user replaceable. The printer will refuse to print when that pad is full. Cleaning the ink nozzles will fill that pad up quickly. The pad can be replaced, third party pads, and some disassembly involved.
The days of the HP LaserJet II, III and 4 are long gone. Those printers were robust, printed well, and long lasting. But only parallel interface and no duplexing for the LaserJet II. A JetDirect card could be purchased for the printers if networking was required.
I am falling behind on chores.
One more task just popped up.
I heard a CRASH from the garage last night and checked to find an 8ft shelf on the floor. It was – past tense – mostly containers of nuts, bolts, fasteners.
What a mess.
I suppose I could yell at the cat, but his job is chasing them mice, mine is fastening down them shelves…
Had a brownie for breakfast, still drinking my coffee. Kid has sportsball tryouts with a split shift. We’re between sessions. Twice the driving around.
N
“Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore”. – J. Biden
We have a demo – professional color laser left over from the business, which closed in mid-2018. The cartridges are almost used up, then we have a replacement set. The printer may outlive us.
The thing is: what do we need to print? Related: we mail maybe 4 or 5 letters a year. Nearly everything is email or online.
We don’t print that much. The annual Christmas letter is several pages (1 sheet, duplexed, printed multiple times) is the biggest job. Occasional printing through the year. Much of the printing is letters to and from the VA. Paper copies recommended. I also print my tax returns. I do print some checks, less than 100 a year. The wife just needed a 60 page (duplexed) manual printed for her Bible study function.
I bought the printer about 8 years ago, replacing a HP that fell off the short filing cabinet, such fall bending the printer. I have replaced the cartridges once before. I suspect they were not fully depleted when the printer reported out having learned about the reset function. This set of cartridges will outlive me. Considering the low price I paid for the printer I guess I shouldn’t complain.
If I had to do it again I would get another Epson from Costco.
What is the point of accessing Vanguard right now?
A sell order issued on the web site now for one of their funds won’t get executed until after hours.
Just to see if I could get in. No selling there.
Now we biddenomics. And Mashed POTATUS with the nuke codes. He’s meeting in the war room today about Iran. I hope they decide something before he calls a lid at 4pm.
So do I. Then I vac seal them and put them in a bankers box (that roll vac sealer comes in handy). I also scan them and have them archived.
Sitting here, working on my 2nd cup of coffee, wondering if WW3 is going to kick off in the M.E..
So, a lot like the world of my youth. What was old is new again.
Some of my earliest memories of TV are the Arabs and Israelis going at it, and riots in Britian (Ireland). The French being obnoxious, Russia threatening eastern Europe.
I suppose JEP would quote “Gods of the Copybook Headings” – so maybe longhand will return.
Cue Warren Zevon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgxRgBf0HWs
The Envoy = 1982
[Lyrics Warren Zevon – The Envoy] Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese And Baghdad does whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace For the envoy
Things got hot in El Salvador
C-I-A got caught and couldn’t do no more
He’s got diplomatic immunity
He’s got a lethal weapon that nobody sees
Looks like another threat to world peace For the envoy
Send the envoy Send the envoy
Whenever there’s a crisis
The President sends his envoy in
Guns in Damascus Oh, Jerusalem
Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese And Baghdad do whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Send the envoy
Send for me
So I guess thinking you can day trade or time the market isn’t working out…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/retail-traders-furious-outages-hit-major-us-brokerages-amid-black-monday-chaos
n
Wall Street’s ‘fears gauge’ hits the highest level since COVID and the 2008 crash – as a TRILLION is wiped off America’s top companies
– have to say I’m a bit shocked to see that Robinhood is still in business, and still has users. WTF? Why?
n
Day trading at Schwab on the web site. Amateur.
Purely an underestimate of activity by the TH’s IT staff we can be sure.
You have to wonder if automated and pre-scripted trades are going through.
And crafty old Warren, what is he doing this morning? Buying up a lot of Japan?
I suppose I could ping my goddaughter the day trader, but I’m not into kicking friends and family when they’re down.
Robin Hood’s real customers are the brokerage firms shearing the sheeple.
I haven’t used the app, but I imagine a dopamine hit is involved.
When I worked for the Death Star on the Uverse app, the company spent $1 million on an interface skeleton from Frog Design, complete with dopamine hits … which my lead, Patent Boy, a graduate from Fancy Lad U, promptly trashed in favor of a design of his own.
Moron.
@Nick
We don’t have The Envoy.
We have Blinken.
Sleep well.
The Natsec Gods of the Copybook Headings Have a Reminder
https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/the-natsec-gods-of-the-copybook-headings
Yes, I follow the good CDR.
It isn’t my father’s navy (1940s), or even my cousins(1960s).
It appears to have deliberately chosen decline and failure.
In some sad news, Jeff Bezos is only worth $191.5 billion after the market dropped. Didn’t he drop half a billion on a sailing yacht?
#RichPeopleProblems
“History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes” – Mark Twain.
And it rhymes with this: The Merry Minuet (Rioting in Africa)
That’s still a lot of Honda Accords.
I doubt Bezos has been behind the wheel of an Accord in 25 years.
“NEW: Calls To Boycott NRA Explode After Group Endorses Democrat For Congress”
https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/new-calls-to-boycott-nra-explode-after-group-endorses-democrat-for-congress-mstef/
“Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) is the only Democrat the NRA will endorse in 2024, a rare accomplishment for the Alaskan lawmaker who is the first member of her party to earn the nod since 2020 when it backed Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN). As the state’s sole member of Congress, Rep. Peltola claims she owns 176 long guns and dares “someone to tread on Alaskan freedoms,” The Hill reported. “Guns are an integral part of Alaska’s culture and our subsistence lifestyles,” Peltola said in a statement touting the endorsement. “Alaskan gun [owners] are the strongest proponents for responsible gun ownership. We pass down our knowledge and skills to our children.””
Is the NRA having trouble reading the room or are they just stupid ? I thought that Bob Barr would fix all this nonsense.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Memes that made me laugh 221”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/08/memes-that-made-me-laugh-221.html
MEME #2: I am not allowed to load the dishwasher anymore. She says that she has to stop the dishwasher, pull everything out, and reload it.
“SEVENEVES at Legendary”
https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/seveneves-at-legendary
Might be a good tv series. Will be at least three seasons if it makes it.
I love the illustration of the cradle.
“One dead after crashing and burning inside Tesla Cybertruck in Baytown”
https://www.chron.com/news/article/tesla-cybertruck-crash-houston-19620564.php
“The driver reportedly died after driving off the road and suffered severe burns after being engulfed in flames.”
Oof. That looks nasty.
My neighbor two doors down from my house bought a new Cybertruck last week. It is very quiet when driving on the road.
“Coming Next Week: “The War Against The Chtorr”” by David Gerrold
https://www.patreon.com/posts/coming-next-week-109428334
“Before the pandemic, I was approached to develop a TV series based on The War Against The Chtorr. Although several companies expressed interest in developing the project, nobody opened their checkbook.”
“But a lot of good material was developed for that proposed TV series.”
“Starting next Friday, instead of the regular Friday story, I will begin sharing the development material and after that I will serialize the novels as a work in progress, including book five. I am updating the technology and the science of the first four and including some new material as well.”
Here we go again. I hope that he can move forward this time with book #5.
“Musk’s Neuralink Brain Chip Is Now Inside a Second Human Patient”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chip-now-inside-second-human-patient
“Elon Musk says Neuralink’s second human patient is doing ‘extremely well’ so far.”
Never for me.
Stephenson had a deal for “Reamde” at Fox which never went anywhere.
Unless he tones down The Wise Latina schtick, a series would be a tough sell to a streaming service.
Amazon, the most likely target for the pitch, is going to get roasted alive at the end of the month with the second season of “The Rings of Power”.
Warner, the traditional Legendary partner, will be the next studio to get dismembered, starting with the streaming service.
My employer canned a bunch of people today.
That didn’t take long after the execs’ stock vesting went under water last week.
Not you, I hope.
“DARPA suggests turning old C code automatically into Rust – using AI, of course”
https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/03/darpa_c_to_rust/
“To accelerate the transition to memory safe programming languages, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is driving the development of TRACTOR, a programmatic code conversion vehicle.”
“The term stands for TRanslating All C TO Rust. It’s a DARPA project that aims to develop machine-learning tools that can automate the conversion of legacy C code into Rust.”
I have never used a code translator that converted 100% of the code properly.
Nah. The AI monkey trick rolls on … for now.
Or one that didn’t introduce bloat.
US base is hit by missiles in Iraq as Middle East crisis spirals – with multiple troops injured
n
WTF? How did I miss a whole hurricane?
n
>> Wall Street’s ‘fears gauge’ hits the highest level since COVID and the 2008 crash – as a TRILLION is wiped off America’s top companies
All just Monopoly money…until you want to exchange it for some American gold eagles, or a Ford F150.
Or one that didn’t introduce bloat.
We don’t care about bloat anymore. Just get that bad boy to running.
It is past 4 in DC so I guess The Kamel will decide who to nuke in the ME.
I posted about it a couple of times last week.
I get notices from Google, not text messages. Notifications like what Tractor Supply and HEB send. I don’t know why this started. I think I found a setting somewhere and yeah, no, I don’t want any sports stuff. What I get is just random stuff at random times.
The last time I paid attention while tethering the phone to the PC places like Home Depot had me east of Atlanta.
I don’t use my phone on my wi-fi. So, Atlanta metro area it is. And I’m getting a couple of “news” items about the hurricane every day.
But ya know? Like in Greater Tuna, “nuclear holocaust affects 17 states, TEXAS not included, now for the weather report.”
Yeah. Sorry Mr. Main Stream Media, you have a hurricane sweeping across Florida and up the east coast. I don’t care. You Yankees didn’t seem to care the last time Texas was hit.
Yeah. OFD might agree I’m a hater. 🙂
Of course it is. One side of every trade has a winner. Never forget that.
Also, the definition of day trading is closing all positions by the end of the trading day so nothing can be lost overnight. That protects in times like the last three market sessions.
TS Debby was only a hurricane for about 4 hours before it was downgraded.
>>Purely an underestimate of activity by the TH’s IT staff we can be sure.
TH?
>>
TS Debby was only a hurricane for about 4 hours before it was downgraded.
And only a Cat 1 at that… Details on Page B8.
@nick, if it makes you feel better, make dinner from the stacks 😉
Gerrold was involved in the debacle at the Hugo’s a decade or so ago.
I was never quite sure what it was all about, the last world con I went to was in the 1980s (I had lunch at a table next to JEP and for some mysterious reason L. Niven asked if I was OK – I was skinny & broke and maybe it showed).
I do know that a lot of authors and others didn’t get their Hugos and I never heard that there was an apology for that from Gerrold or anyone on the committee.
That is water long, long, long under the bridge, but I wouldn’t pay for old work from him that was apparently not good enough to publish back in the day.
TS Debby was only a hurricane for about 4 hours before it was downgraded.
And only a Cat 1 at that… Details on Page B8.
Yeah, Hurricane Beryl was ONLY a Cat 1 and look at the damage that it did. Probably 10% of the trees in the Houston metropolitan area are down or massive tree branch loss.
Gerrold was involved in the debacle at the Hugo’s a decade or so ago.
I was never quite sure what it was all about, the last world con I went to was in the 1980s (I had lunch at a table next to JEP and for some mysterious reason L. Niven asked if I was OK – I was skinny & broke and maybe it showed).
I do know that a lot of authors didn’t get their Hugos and I never heard that there was an apology for that from Gerrold or anyone on the committee.
That is water long, long, long under the bridge, but I wouldn’t pay for old work from him that was apparently not good enough to publish back in the day.
David Gerrold is a drama queen. And very much an asshole. And a perfectionist. You will never get an apology out of him for anything.
He emailed me (and several others) about a quarter of Chtorr book #5 back in the 1990s. I told him it was awesome and then he went silent. He has written about 20 or 30 books since then. The bouncing off the planet series was pretty good.
@Alan:
I meant to type CS for Charles Schwab referencing the post just before mine, so no idea …. iPad typing is always a pain.
I just finished watching Billy Madison. Yes, there are some funny parts. It’s not a horrible movie. It is not a great movie. If I had bought a ticket to see it in a theater I’d be leaving feeling ripped-off.
Overall, I think I lost a few IQ points just for watching it.
Like I have any to spare….
>>I meant to type CS for Charles Schwab referencing the post just before mine, so no idea …. iPad typing is always a pain.
@EdH, thanks. Should we be worried that no one else was confused? 😉
I have a stack of old Starlog magazines which featured Gerrold as a columnist.
I’ll have to dig those out. I remember one where he wrote about being an extra on the “Planet of the Apes” TV series in the 70s, wearing the complete makeup.
Schwab has a big IT shop here down on 183 next to Visa. Lots of H1B labor.
Another one bites the dust.
n
“Tucker Puts the New Cybertruck to the Ultimate Test”
https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-cybertruck
“Can Tesla’s new Cybertruck handle the demands of rural living? Tucker and two of his friends in small-town Maine put it to the ultimate test to find out.”
Tucker’s daily driver is a red 1987 Chevy Silverado single cab with a 5 speed manual and a rough sounding engine. No electronics, not even a radio.
Oh, I was confused. But it happens so often here that someone uses an abbreviation or a pet name like “schoolmarm” that I don’t get, and I reserve asking about it for those occasions when it seems important.
It took me weeks to get “Real Life Tony Stark” from the context.
I just finished watching Billy Madison. Yes, there are some funny parts. It’s not a horrible movie. It is not a great movie. If I had bought a ticket to see it in a theater I’d be leaving feeling ripped-off.
Overall, I think I lost a few IQ points just for watching it.
Like I have any to spare….
I’ve never seen it. My favorite movies of Adam Sandler’s are: “The Waterboy”, “50 First Dates”, “Blended”, and “Hustle”. I think that Netflix is carrying all of his movies now since he making movies for them at $200 million each (has delivered five ??? so far). His “Spaceman” movie was WEIRD and that was before the space spider showed up.
Another one bites the dust.
Another one million bites the dust.
FTFY.
Pixels was a lot of fun. For an 80s kid.
n
“Senior Iranian Ayatollah Threatens ‘Blood Vengeance’ Against U.S., Can Strike Major American Targets in ‘Less Than Half a Day’”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/08/05/senior-iranian-ayatollah-threatens-blood-vengeance-against-u-s-can-strike-major-american-targets-less-than-half-day/
If he truly said this, he and his supporters need to die. They cannot live on the same planet as us. They are too dangerous and need to be put down.
Instead, we are going to wait as they kill more and more USA servicemen and servicewomen in foreign duties.
Buca di Beppo. That isn’t surprising. They had a fast expansion in Florida fueled by HELOC money prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
The closest one to use here in Austin is out at Lakeline Mall. That is a big restaurant space and will be tough for the mall to replace.
I’m not thrilled with the place, but my wife and kids like it. Pricey, with acidic tomato sauce. The family went once here without me.
Drug reps in Florida used to rent the “Pope” room for lectures before Obamacare.
The Bankruptcy filing I’m waiting for is Ruth’s Chris’ Steakhouse. Its coming.
I never liked their faux backstory about mobsters taking care of the neighborhood. And since I avoid carbs…
n
@Lynn
I like these people.
I don’t keep up. Darden bought Ruth’s.
We’ll have to wait for the Darden bankruptcy.
Carter is hanging on for dear life because he may be a twisted, vengeful, arrogant douche, but he does retain enough from his God-fearing upbringing to fear paying for his sins.
There is no Qom crater in this timeline. Carter should have given them the choice.
$200 million budgets for mediocre film comedies?
Yikes!
The year’s (decade’s? century’s?) best movie cameo has it right when he delivers the money line in “Deadpool & Wolverine”.
There will only be one.
Disney dismembered in Bankruptcy will be glorious to behold.
I like these people.
Me too. Reminds me of my second and third cousins out in the sticks of Texas. A bunch of rednecks who will rip your head off if you mess with them. All hard workers drilling wells, farming, driving trucks, welders, etc. Quite a few of them have ten to a hundred head of cattle on the side and sell most of their calves at auction.
$200 million budgets for mediocre film comedies?
Yikes!
You ain’t Adam Sandler. He is a name.
https://www.imdb.com/news/ni62768380/
“According to Netflix, audiences have spent two billion hours watching his films since 2015, when “The Ridiculous 6” premiered. Additionally, the streamer noted that “Murder Mystery” was the most popular film on Netflix last year.”
I was wrong. He got $250 million for four movies, $63 million each.
And since I avoid carbs…
The wife made me spaghetti with browned lean ground meat in a Bertolli five cheese sauce for supper tonight. I liked it so much, I got a second bowl (cereal bowl). Big clumps of ground meat in the sauce. Bad, bad, bad. I will have to punish myself by staying out of the HEB chocolate chip ice cream tonight.
Bluebell has a short term flavor that is oatmeal cookies in some sort of vanilla ice cream…… Even the kids were convinced by the first bite…
n
Disney dismembered in Bankruptcy will be glorious to behold.
Do you have a short position on Disney ?